Raw
by jakiratsenekazu
Summary: Sequel to Poison. After the events in which Bruce saved Tony from radiation poisoning and Tony saved him from The Cube, the world is breathing down Fury's neck to get Bruce back under close surveillance. The Avengers plan on clearing Bruce's name, but will he need more than that? No slash Science Bros teamfic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HERP-DE-DERP! Good news, everyone! After having a whole summer of doing nothing, I start school tomorrow and I'm starting this story. I have been getting a lot of follows of this story lately and have been asked to write a sequel to Poison. I have a little bit of an idea, but I'm not sure how it will go. I'll try my best!**

**The Grass is Dead on the Other Side is on hiatus because, honestly, I have hardly a clue on where I'm going with it.**

"Do you have any idea what you have done?!"

Tony let out his fifth sigh that morning. He had been woken up from his hospital bed for the sixth time this week on the Helicarrier to a red-faced Steve Rogers.

"Got kidnapped by terrorists, created a robotic suit, stopped my company from being in the arms race, sent a nuke into space and killed a bunch of aliens, Phantom Menace style…"

"Are you kidding me?!" Steve exclaimed. He stopped, breathing out a large sigh as he placed his hand on his face. "Listen to me…"

"No, I think you should listen to me," Tony interrupted. He pushed himself up on his elbows. "What I did wasn't some selfish act that I did just to get back at 'the man' or however you would say it back in grandpa times. What I did was help a teammate, a _friend_, get out of a bind that he has no business being in… being treated like a criminal! If you think that's so wrong, then you aren't the team-player here."

Steve's face fell and he looked away. "Look, it's not like…" Steve sighed. "I know Dr. Banner doesn't deserve that. He is a good man and an Avenger." Steve turned to face him now. "It's just that what we really need, what _Bruce _really needs, is to be on good terms with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rest of mankind."

"Saving the world wasn't enough?"

"You and I both know the answer to that one." Tony was the one to look down this time. "Tony, I was about to petition for Bruce's freedom. I didn't want him to go to the Cube either. We needed to do this as peacefully as possible. Now we have to rethink our plan to get him back and keep him with us, trusted by the government and seen as the hero he can be."

"I just…I wanted him to live his own life," Tony lied back down.

Steve walked towards the doorway. "I know. We'll think of something." He walked out the door and left Tony back in the dark to fester in his thoughts.

"Are your stupid-asses serious?" Director Fury glared across the room at two of his best agents, Captain America, and Iron Man themselves. They stared stoically back.

Fury shook his head and turned away, his arms folded behind his backs. "You people are telling me that we should let Dr. Banner run around this world without so much as any monitoring?"

"You told us to be a team, right? Here we are," Tony said from his wheelchair.

"I don't want to hear anything from you, Stark. Your actions caused an uproar in the United Nations."

"They do that a lot," Stark retorted. Clint smirked.

"And you, Agent Barton. I know you had something to do with this."

"Sorry, Sir. I just couldn't stop him in time. Technology is a crazy thing nowadays." Fury groaned and turned towards Steve.

"Rogers, please tell me you know where I'm coming from."

Steve sighed and shook his head. "Sir, I agree that Dr. Banner should have not been released as he was," Tony snorted. "_However_, I agree with my team. Bruce has proven himself as a good man, an Avenger, a hero. I would have done this more peacefully, but I would not allow Dr. Banner to be imprisoned."

"Nice speech, Cap. You do any other Braveheart impressions?" Tony joked. Steve blushed for a short moment as he regained his composure. Fury turned to Natasha.

"Agent Romanova, you're my last…"

"Sorry, Director, but I agree with the others," Natasha said, he face never quavering with emotion. "Dr. Banner has proven himself a valuable ally. While he has slipped recently, I believe that he has no intention to harm anyone, as proven by his most recent incident. No casualties were reported at that time."

Fury sighed. "So, you are all on his side?"

"Yessir," Tony slurred.

Nick groaned and sat down in his seat. "I wanted you all to be a team, and look where it got me." He shook his head. "I was prepared to argue his case to The Panel, but now you all fucked up. This is going to be a pain in the ass to argue about."

"Well, then you better get to it, Director," Tony motioned.

"Are you-Stark, I can't just easily fight this. Until we get approval, we have to take Banner back and hold him for as long as needed. We're going to need full coopera-"

"No, no deal," Tony argued.

"You can't just decide something like this Stark…"

"Tony, we got our point across to the director, he wants Bruce out as much as we do." Steve commented.

"That was coming out of the King of Lies himself," Tony sneered.

"I don't need your approval to get things done around here, Stark."

"I agree with Stark, there's got to be another way to handle this," Clint commented.

"You aren't high enough on the pay grade to make that call, Barton."

"Director Fury, we really do need to strategize what we can do otherwise," Natasha commented.

"I don't want to hear this from anyone!" Fury yelled over the chaos. "It has to be that way or Banner's stuck in The Cube."

"There's always another way, Nick. If you'd get your head out of your…"

"Sir, a call is coming in."

Tony jerked his head to his pocket and jerked his arms up and down in a sigh. "Kind of busy, Jarv. Send it to voicemail."

"Sir, Dr. Bruce Banner is on the line."

**Bum bum bummm.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Homework, what's that?**

"Put that motherfucker on speaker," Fury growled.

"Who uses the term 'speaker' anymore?" Stark asked. "Jarvis, tell him I'll call him back in a minute. I'm stuck in a meeting."

"Of course, sir."

"Stark, if you think that you're going to do all of this under the table, you are damn wrong," Fury threatened as he walked around the table to stand over Tony's wheelchair. "In fact, no one is allowed to speak privately with Dr. Banner unless you have permission from me. As of now, the Avengers Initiative is cancelled."

"Wait, sir," Steve jumped up. "What happens if there is another attack…."

"Then it will be handled without the team."

"Yeah, like that worked out last time," Tony frowned.

Fury turned his head towards Stark, his eye practically burning through his skull. "There will be no private meetings with any member of the former Avengers Initiative without prior approval. Do I make myself clear, Stark?" A moment of tense silence followed, Stark and Fury glaring daggers at each other while Steve looked desperately at Natasha and Clint, who just shook their heads and looked away.

"Aye aye, captain. I'd never go against regulation," Tony finally answered. "Are we dismissed?" he asked sarcastically. Fury groaned, gave him one last glare, and stormed out of the room.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes. See you all later, then," Tony called out as he wheeled himself out, Steve trying to make protests as he left.

It didn't take much longer for Tony's jet to be authorized to land on the Helicarrier. He had ditched the wheelchair, hoping to get as much practice being on his feet again as he could, and walked in without ever glancing back. He sat down in his seat, politely dismissing his flight attendant after she handed him a glass of water and immediately pulled out his phone.

"Jarvis, you knew to block out all network tapping to my phone, right?"

"I am insulted that you would ask that, sir."

"Just checking that I don't need to donate you to NYU," Tony muttered as he flicked through his messages.

"Sir, Dr. Banner seemed urgent in his call."

"Which is exactly why I'm calling him back. Do me a favor and make sure we're not being tracked."

"As you wish, sir."

Tony frowned at his Starkphone, looking at the number he had given Bruce to call him. Banner had never used that number and it wasn't like him to suddenly call him, especially it being less than a week after what happened. Tony dashed those thoughts aside as he pressed the call button.

"Tony," the phone had been picked up halfway through the first ring.

"Dr. Banner, long time no hear! What can I do for-."

"Tony, listen to me. There's something wrong… something wrong with me."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Besides being a giant green rage-."

"Listen to me!" Bruce yelled through the phone. Tony immediately stopped, listening to Bruce's heavy panting through the phone. "I'm sorry," his voice came out softer, more apologetic. "Please, just listen to me. I've noticed some strange patterns going on," Bruce explained, "stranger than usual," he rushed. "Since you started getting better, I tried to ignore it, think that it was some kind of rare anomaly or just a random and temporary occurrence, but- oh, God, I'm not sure."

"Bruce, you're panicking. What's wrong?"

"Tony, I'm losing my mind."

Tony paused for several moments, listening to Bruce's hitched breath through the phone.

"Losing your mind? As in, what kind of-?"

"I can't think clearly anymore! I've been thinking of nothing but hurting people… _killing people._ Just slowly killing them and watching the light fade from their eyes…" Bruce faded off and immediately snapped back to attention. "But it isn't the Other Guy this time, it's _me._ I've been trying to run tests and I've seen a spike of radiation that isn't normal, like maybe I absorbed it from when I last saw you and that was just the tipping point."

Tony let Bruce pause for a moment. "Holy shit."

"The resources out here aren't enough, Tony. I can't fix this alone, but I _need _to be alone. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't know if you can help me, but I…"

"I have a place off of the coast of California. It's not a lot, but I can ship everything you need. I'll have a plane leave for your location that I have on here right now by tomorrow. SHIELD can't track this line, so they can't track you either. For the sake of security, the pilot will tell you when he first sees you, "AES says, 'hello'." If he doesn't say it, get out of there. Is this all okay?"

It was Bruce's turn to be speechless. "I… yes, thank you. I'll be on the lookout."

Tony's phone beeped in his ear and he pulled it away, the 'call end' screen flashing momentarily before returning to his home screen. He dropped his phone on his lap and leaned back, his hand pushing his hair back. He let out a sigh.

"Janice, I could use that scotch now. Just leave the bottle," he called to his attendant.

"How does he look?"

"Oh my God, Tony. Bless his heart. He looks horrible," Pepper Potts answered through her phone from her seat in the cockpit. Pepper had insisted that she be the one to pick up Bruce, hoping that a familiar face would put his worries of being caught be SHIELD at ease. She knew that Tony flying out of his house in Malibu so soon after he got back would look suspicious, so she had insisted that she go to appear to be flying out on business as usual.

Tony's GPS told them that Bruce had made it to Guatemala, a good distance considering where the Helicarrier was at the time when Bruce took the emergency shuttle out above Costa Rica. The pilot landed the plane and she immediately walked out, her pristine business suit she wore as a disguise when leaving Malibu differing greatly from the used runway.

She blinked at the sun and closed her eyes. "AES says, 'hello'", Pepper smiled. She flicked her eyes open as Bruce walked past her.

"Armored jet?" he asked, not turning to face her.

Pepper frowned and pulled her skirt down. "Yes."

"Good. Stay in the cockpit." Bruce walked on board and shut the door behind him.

"Well, I'll be. You'd think a vacation in Guatemala would give a nice and healthy tan to a person," Tony remarked after Pepper described the meeting.

"Tony, this is serious. I hardly got to look at him, but I did see him. He used to look so sweet and caring, but now, it's like-I don't know- looking at a humanized Hulk," she said sadly. "I'm just glad that we got to him before anyone else did."

They sat in silence over the phone until Tony spoke up. "Pep, at this point, just do what he asks. When the plane lands, stay on and fly back to Malibu."

"And leave him alone?!"

"No, I'll be there to greet him."

Pepper sighed. "Just be careful, okay?"

"Aren't I always?"

"Love you too." Pepper hung up the phone and sighed. "I need a drink."

**A/N: Oh my God, what have I gotten myself in to. I'm so sorry for the delay! School is busy this year. . I tried to make the chapter a bit longer than usual. I have some great ideas for parts of this story but not the whole thing in general, so I'm just going to have to wing parts of it like I did with Poison. Oh well. Away! **


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